The Eagles' season opener is next Sunday in Detroit, so close yet so far.
The team's readying up, the captains have been elected, and the fiery new member of the team is trying to get up to speed.
With the 53-man roster submitted, plus some last-second transactions, and the countdown to kickoff in its final days, the past week brought a lot to talk about.
Here's some of the best of what the Eagles had to say...
"It's so funny how things work out the way they do. You look up, like 'Man, I'm playing Detroit coming off an injury and I'm going to be able to play in that game. I didn't get to play last year when we played in Detroit, so to start off with the first one, it's going to be something special playing in front of my home crowd coming back from an Achilles injury." – DE Brandon Graham on the first game back being in his hometown
"It's something I've grown into. I work extremely hard and I know the only way you're gonna win is if you can get other guys to follow you. That's what leaders do, not just talk about it but be about it. That's where I pride myself. I wouldn't say a word if I wasn't doing the right thing and they know that too." – WR A.J. Brown on leadership and accountability
"You always want the leaders on your football team to deliver the message that they believe in and deliver the message that we believe in as coaches, that we believe in as a team." – Head coach Nick Sirianni on Brown's speech to the team on accountability
"OUR FEARLESS LEADER HAS RETURNED." – LT Jordan Mailata on Kelce returning to practice after an elbow cleanout
"I've told him this many times, when I'm the head coach here, I want him to be on the football team. There's no secrets in that. I don't know how many kegs I'll have to send next year or the year after that or the year after that, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We love having him out on the field, and it just always makes a big difference." – Sirianni on Kelce returning as a team captain
"He said he held back tears talking about it the other day. It means that much to him, and that's a guy I want leading." – QB Jalen Hurts on when CB Darius Slay learned he was a team captain
"Hell yeah! Love that for Lane, love that for Jalen, love that for..c'mon everyone knew Kelce was gonna be captain. But I love that for those guys. They're real leaders. Talk the talk, walk the walk, so I'm happy for them." – Mailata on Hurts, Kelce, and Lane Johnson being named the offensive captains
"CeeDee, he's a dawg. I've seen it today, first day out there. He got his hand on a pass breakup. So I'm excited to have him. Definitely a dawg back there in the back end, and I can't wait to play with him." – CB Avonte Maddox on new DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
"You get to see more of me." – Gardner-Johnson on switching to safety full-time with the Eagles
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- Eagles mailbag: What's the worst season opener ever?
- Eagles player review: RB Trey Sermon
"See, I'm more of a 'nice' loud. He's more of a like... 'YEAH!' that kind of loud...He's got a lot of swag, man. I'm more of a 'cool' loud guy. He's more of a 'letting his presence be known' kind of guy." – Slay on Gardner-Johnson's personality
"It's football. You talk trash, it's the nature of the game. You go back and forth, but at the end of the day, it's not harmful, because at the end of the day you still got to see each other. You still got to meet each other, greet each other. Some of us see each other at the Pro Bowl and they were just talking trash with each other, but it don't matter. Everybody knows it's a sport." – Gardner-Johnson on his approach to trash talk
"Shoot, I mean I go against BG (Brandon Graham) in practice every day and he never shuts up, so I don't know if anyone tops him." – TE Dallas Goedert on Gardner-Johnson and the biggest trash talker on the team
"When the game gets down to a heated situation, you're competitive nature just comes out and it shows you who really loves the game of football. If you're not passionate about what you do, then why are here? Why are you on the field in between those lines? I think the passion and fire I bring to the team is just something that's not coached, you gotta love it." – Gardner-Johnson on how trash talking drives him and his passion for football
"Just never give up, man. And it's so Philadelphia when you think about it, right? Underdog story, being overlooked, just having grit and continuing to push through, all the ups and downs. And earlier I had way more downs than I did ups. So just trying to keep my mental confidence. Reminding myself that I'm still that guy, that I'm still a great player, even if it wasn't showing otherwise. But just grinding every day, keeping your head down, grinding, continuing to push, and just waiting to come out on top on the other side." – Edge rusher Haason Reddick on his early career struggles in Arizona
"I think I can beat him in Madden. Fortnite, I'm better than him. Call of Duty, better than him. FIFA, better than him. That's my boy, we just go back and forth." – Gardner-Johnson his gaming rivalry with Slay
"Well see, I was trash at first, so I had a lot of making up to do and now I'm pretty decent. But now if I started over, I'd probably have a five, 5.0, killing everybody." – Slay on his Call of Duty K/D
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